A Mother's Love
by Bree Colbern
Summary: Steve couldn't help the feeling he got when no one even bothered of telling him their vision or at least talking to him about it. It hurt. But thankfully a certain mother and father can help him.


**So, I was reading some stuff about Steve, ya' know, the usual way I spend my day :P, and I found out that in the comic books Steve was born on July 4, 1920.**

 **And then I read that he went in the ice in 1942; which means he was 22 when he emerged from the ice and was forced to fight off a race of aliens. He was freakin' 22! Like my brother said, and I quote, 'that's ridiculous!'. I just couldn't believe it...**

 **And surprisingly, that is not what inspired this story. I was on JesusLovesMarina's tumblr page, and saw some gifs of Laura, and this idea sort of just popped up. Thanks for the inspiration! Hope you guys enjoy!  
**

 **Disclaimer: No! I don't own this story! Do you have to keep rubbing it in my face!?**

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Steve took a moment to regroup after all the Avengers left the room, before he started clearing the table. And he was actually enjoying it.

Because working was good for him.

Working kept his mind off of things; it always had. So, he busied himself with washing the dishes for Clint's family's. Clint's family.

It still had sort of an odd ring to it.

Although, now he can definitely see what a great father Clint is, but he just doesn't understand how he could keep such a huge secret.

Steve couldn't help the little stabs of envy in his chest when he had watched them for the first time. The way Clint's eyes lit up when he saw his wife and his kids.

Yeah, Steve was definitely jealous.

He pushed down his petty feelings and continued the tedious task of washing and drying the dishes.

But there was one feeling he couldn't get past; the feeling of being unwanted. He knew about everyone confiding in each other of their visions.

He made sure that Tony would find someone to get it off his chest, even though it was surprisingly Nick Fury, and he knew that Bruce and Natasha would confide into each other, and Thor had talked with Selvig, so everything was good.

Except, no one had even bothered of checking in with him.

And yeah, that was fine. He was the Leader, so of course no one would think of asking him.

Yet it still _hurt_.

Yeah, he knew he was being pretty pathetic, but he still had feelings. He sighed and continued scrubbing the dishes; perhaps a little too hard, he realized as the plate fell out of his hand and back into the sink with a loud ' _clink_ '.

He swore under his breath and checked to see if it had broken. Thankfully, it hadn't. He went back to doing the dishes and was so lost in thought he never even heard the footsteps that approached him.

"You know, that's usually my job," A feminine voice said from behind him. He turned around and shrugged before going back to the dishes.

"Well, I needed something to do, so I thought I'd do this." He said as he dried the last dish and put it away.

"Thank you," Laura said genuinely and he shrugged.

"My mom always taught me to make sure I show ways of my gratitude to others, and I guess it kind of stuck." He said as he drained the water and dried his hands.

"Sounds like she was a pretty good woman," He smiled sadly, back still turned away from her.

"Yeah, she was." He breathed reminiscently, before turning around to face her.

"So, um, I guess we really haven't met that officially; I'm Laura." She said as she stuck out her hand; waiting for him to shake it. He smiled as he gently shook it.

"And I'm Steve, miss Barton." She rolled her eyes with a smile.

"I thought I just said my name was Laura. Call me that." He chuckled lightly.

"Okay, Laura. It's very nice to meet you. Clint's actually never told me anything about you," He joked and she laughed.

"Yeah, I gathered that by the look on your face when you first saw me." She smirked and he looked down slightly embarrassed. "And Clint's told me a lot about you,"

"I hope good things," Steve said with a small grin.

"Oh, yes, only good things. Well, not all." She said, and Steve raised an eyebrow. "I mean, some of it was bad." She quickly regrouped, but Steve's curious expression remained.

"I don't mean it like that, I mean, that, you know, he's told me about everything that's happened to you and I don't really consider them good." She explained sheepishly and he just shrugged with a small smile.

He started to move into the other room to finish clearing the table, and Laura followed him; helping him figure out where everything went.

"So, I sort of noticed that something seems to be bothering you," She said, before pointing to a specific cupboard when he held up the pepper and salt.

"Is there anything?" She asked a moment later when he didn't respond. He shrugged as he opened the cupboard and put the spices away.

"Nothing in particular. I guess I'm just a little stressed with the whole Ultron deal." He lied easily, and figured that she had bought it, until he turned around and saw the look she was giving him.

"I know that's not true. I'm a mother, I can see through lies easily. Now tell me what's really bothering you; I won't leave you until you do." She said and he sighed in defeat as his shoulders slumped just the slightest.

He shrugged again, not bothering to meet her eyes, but instead focus on a particular spot on the floor. He wanted to lie to her.

He wanted, no, _needed_ , to lie to her so she wouldn't find out the things he'd been suppressing for probably about three years now.

But she reminded him so much of his own late mother he couldn't help but tell the truth.

"I Just, I'm a little bothered by different things. It's nothing really." He said and she lightly glared at him, no actual heat behind it, instead she was just showing him that she knew that wasn't the whole story.

"You know, we could discuss these, uh, _different things_ over tea and some cookies, if you'd like." He raised a brow and she sighed. "Look, I'm a mom, I treat everyone like that now." He chuckled.

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't really think I should." He said and she put her hands on her hips and gave him a look that only a mother could possess.

"Look, I don't care if your a captain of some superhero team, and I don't care what age you are or anything, it's not good for somebody to suppress their feelings so that they turn into some angry and depressed loner. So, you are gonna' sit down there and we are going to discuss this."

She stated, voice undermined with a certain streak of stubbornness, yet genuine compassion. He couldn't help the small smile that graced his lips as he spoke.

"You really are a mom." And with that, she smiled softly.

"You better believe it." She said, and that's how he found himself twenty minutes later, drinking tea and eating cookies, talking about his childhood and different things. "So," She began after she finished a cookie and had a sip of her tea.

"What's really been bothering you so much?" She questioned and he sighed, suddenly very interested with playing with the handle of his tea mug.

"I don't really know, to be honest. I guess, this whole search with finding Bucky has really been sort of depressing. But I think that maybe this whole Ultron thing really messed with my head."

He quietly huffed, "Quite literally, actually." Laura leaned forward over the table and gently stopped his fingers from tapping so hard against the table.

She smiled slightly before clasping her hands together.

"Please, go on," She said, a genuine concern lacing her words.

"I just, everyone confided in someone with what they saw in their vision, which I'm sure Clint has told you about?" He paused, and when she nodded he continued.

"And yet no one ever talked to me about theirs. I made sure everyone had someone, just, someone to talk to. And I made sure that everyone was okay, and everyone was dealing with it all right. But no one ever talked to me about it, or even asked me about mine," He whispered, feeling truly pathetic after having saying it out loud.

"You can tell me," She offered, and he smiled softly.

"I was back in some club from my youth, and it was after the war was over, there were cameras flashing, reminding of guns, and wine spilled that was like blood, people were fighting and dancing," He began, screwing his eyes shut as he looked down, lightly shaking his head. "And then Peggy was there,"

"The girl you loved," Laura said softly, showing her understanding of the situation. He nodded slightly, opening his eyes but never looking back up.

"We were finally going to get the dance we promised each other before the crash, but even in the dream we never got it. She said we could go home," He paused and with a small smile, he spoke again.

"But I know I never can. She told me to imagine a home, but all I saw was an empty room. Ultron's words couldn't have been more right; I can't live without war," He stated quietly, too ashamed to look up.

"Oh, Steve, I'm sorry." She said quietly. "No one deserves that." She stated. "You're so young, yet filled with so many of life's tragic disasters. You're only 25, and you feel like you already can't live without war." She sighed heavily and he looked up slightly.

"Steve, war doesn't define a person, a person defines war. All your life you've fought so many battles, mostly others, and I know that you took on the role of Leader as soon as you could walk," She paused, "So, I understand why you feel you can't live without war; because war's been your whole life."

"But Steve, it doesn't have to be anymore if you don't want it to. You don't have to fight other people battles anymore, you need to live your own life."

"I get it, okay, you still have to be the Leader of your team, who are all almost twice your age, and you still have to look out for them; but why don't you also start looking out for yourself?" She asked, and he took a moment to ponder that.

"But how can I if I always look out for my team? They come first; always have and always will." He said simply and she sighed lightly again.

"I understand that, but you have to take care of yourself on the team, too, not just everyone else. And what about off the team? Why don't you take care of yourself a little more when you're not in the face of death? Think for yourself, Steve, live your own life." She said, and before Steve could respond, a voice interrupted.

"She's right, you know," Clint said as he casually walked into the room.

"Clint," Steve looked up, slightly startled by his appearance and embarrassed about how much he might have heard. "How much did you hear?" Steve asked, and Clint shrugged as he sat down in the chair next to Laura and put his arm around his wife.

"Depends how much you wanted me to hear," Clint said causally and Steve sighed.

"You were there the whole time, weren't you?" Clint nodded and looked back at the doorway he emerged from and gestured towards it.

"Yeah, I was just hanging out in the doorway. Being a master assassin really helps your sneaking skills." Steve chuckled lightly at Clint's response.

"But she is right," Clint said, turning surprisingly serious. "You have to think for yourself and take care of yourself. For God's sake, you're only 25." Clint said, completely baffled that his Leader and close friend is only 25.

Steve chuckled again before furrowing his brows and lightly biting his lip, pondering the whole thing.

"Maybe you guys are right. I don't know how I could adjust, though, this," He gestured with his hands. "This has been my whole life."

"Just try. That's all we ask of you," Laura said softly and Clint nodded in agreement. Steve smiled softly.

"All right, I'll try it out." He paused before speaking again, "Thanks. Thank you for listening," Steve said and Laura smiled.

"Anytime, Steve. You remind me of Cooper," Steve chuckled.

"That's funny, because you kind of remind me of my mom." Now it was Laura's turn to chuckle.

"Do I remind you of your father?" Clint asked.

"I don't know, I never met him." Steve said, subconsciously clenching his jaw a bit at the mention of the topic.

"Well, you can just call us mom and dad," Clint joked, trying to ease up some of the tension for Steve. And it worked, because Steve laughed.

"Yeah, I think I'll just stick with Clint and Laura," Steve said as he got up and pushed his chair in. "Thanks again, you guys." Steve said genuinely and Laura just smiled.

"Hey, that's what parents are for." Clint said and Steve laughed again as he walked out the room slightly shaking his head in amusement. Clint then turned to Laura once Steve was out of the room. He was definitely not expecting Laura's next question.

"Can we adopt him?" She joked and Clint groaned as he threw his head back.

"We got enough kids." He muttered with his eyes closed.

"But he's just like a sad, lost little golden retriever," Laura complained and Clint sighed as he brought his head back.

"You made the same remark about Natasha when I first brought her here," He said and she shook her head.

"No, I specifically said she reminded me of an abandoned, sad yet cute little kitten. Steve reminds of an adorable and lost golden retriever." Clint huffed in response.

"You just called one of the deadliest men on the face of the planet 'adorable'." He said and she glared at him lightly. He shrugged with a sigh. "Fine. I guess one more won't hurt," He said and she smiled.

"He's a good kid," She said after a few moments of silence. Clint nodded silently. "And I know I can trust him to keep you safe," She said after another bit of silence. "We should bring him out to the farm more often."

"I definitely agree." Clint said with a nod of his head.

"That's just because you want him to do your work." She said and he nodded again.

"Heck, yeah." He stated and she laughed as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, Clint." She said and he placed a kiss on the crown of her head, before resting his chin there.

"I love you, too, Laura."

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 **I love Clint and Laura... Please tell me if the characters were OOC. I apologize if they were, I didn't quite know how to write them. So, please, please, please, please, _please_ review! :D**


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